By Our Correspondent
Monarchs and leaders from Ijaw land in Delta State at the weekend called for calm over rising tension following a seven day ultimatum issued by Ijaw group, Flow Station/ Well Head Host Ijaw Communities of Delta State, to Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa to withdraw the controversial DESOPADEC Amendment Bill presently before Delta State House of Assembly.
The royal fathers and leaders appealed to the people to allow peace to reign as they were already discussing with government on the provocative Bill, with a view to finding lasting solution to the issue and nipping the rising tension in the bud.
The Bill reportedly sponsored by Governor Okowa has generated a storm of controversy, as people from oil producing areas, especially Ijaw people have vehemently opposed some provisions of the Bill, which they view as unfavorableto the tenet of derivation and insensitive to the plight of the people in oil producing communities.
Apparently to pave the way for further consultation, a group Flow Station/ Well Head Host Ijaw Communities of Delta State, on Sunday suspended its seven days ultimatum to oil and gas firms to leave the Ijaw oil and gas producing facilities should the state government refuses to withdraw the Bill from the House.
Spokesman of the group, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, who made the disclosure, said the group also relaxed its warning to foreign missions to withdraw their nationals in the Ijaw areas, urging oil firms to go about their production, assuring of the safety of their officials and commended the royal fathers and leaders for stepping into the matter.
But they maintained that the vexatious Bill must be withdrawn from the floor of the House and called on the governor to listen to the voice of reason and save the state from descending into anarchy and ethnic tension.
They accused the House Committee handling the Bill of doctoring it in their favour without having the overall interest of the people of the state at heart, advising the legislators to stop chasing after contracts andconcentrate on their constitutional legislative duties.
‘’Members of the Delta State House of Assembly should stop imposing projects and contractors on host communities, and instead, allow the oil producing communities to recommend their projects and the contractors to handle same’’.
The group maintained its earlier stance that the 50% of the 13% derivation fund budgeted for DESOPADEC to execute projects activities, should be used strictly for oil bearing communities, hosting flow stations and well-heads and that 30% of the remaining 50% of the distributable pool should be used for the development of the impacted communities and other parts of the state to give them a sense of belonging.
They noted that the State Government should utilize the remaining 20% for the remediation of the devastated environment to bring it back to its pristine beauty, and warned the government against diverting the fund meant for the development of oil communities through DESOPADEC.
‘’Government should not be diverted, through a proposed ethnic-based oil commission, for the development of Asaba, under the Asaba Capital City Development Agency. We believe that former Governors in the state were able to raise funds from other channels, separate from DESOPADEC, to develop Asaba. The present administration should study how its predecessors were able to achieve this and follow suits, instead of causing confusion’’.
While calling for the building of the capacity of the locals whose means of livelihood have been destroyed, and pay adequate compensation to core host communities devastated by oil spills and environmental degradation, they underlined that appointment of key officials especially, Directors and Commissioners must come from the core oil bearing host communities.
